During a recent practice, Chiefs quarterback Tyler Bray spotted receiver Darryl Surgent sprinting down the numbers and dashing toward the end zone.

Surgent was locked in single coverage, which is sometimes as good as open in the NFL, and Bray — who knows this — promptly unleashed a beauty of a throw, a high, arcing spiral right into Surgent’s breadbasket for a touchdown.

There was zero fanfare. That’s life in the NFL, when plays like this are expected of professional quarterbacks.

“I try not to force it,” Bray said of the deep ball. “There’s a few times where I catch myself forcing the ball. I just need to learn if it’s not there, just get back to the read.”

However, that’s just one of the things Bray — whose maturity questions overwhelmed his intriguing arm talent enough to keep him from being drafted in 2013 — has apparently come to learn in the 13 months he’s been a Chief.

“He’s made a few changes,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

And the timing really couldn’t be better for him either — he's currently locked in a competition with veteran Chase Daniel and fifth-round pick Aaron Murray for the two backup spots behind incumbent starter Alex Smith.

There is a way the Chiefs could keep all four quarterbacks. As a new draft pick, Murray isn’t going anywhere, but he is recovering from an ACL tear in November and could start the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list.

Murray, however, has been moving around fairly well in OTAs, and if he participates in even a single training camp practice, he will be ineligible for the PUP list.

Thus, the easiest way for Bray to earn a roster spot is by winning the No. 2 job with a big preseason. That’s what it would take to beat out Daniel, who acquitted himself quite well in the Chiefs’ 27-24 loss to San Diego in the 2013 regular-season finale and has all the intangibles you want in a backup.